She grew up during the Great Depression in the segregated American South, where the deck was stacked heavily against a bright black girl athlete. Title IX[7] was so far in the future that Neil Armstrong’s stroll on the moon was practically ancient history by the time legislation was passed to require women’s sports funding was on parity with men’s. (It’s still got a ways to go.)

Heather Lang[8]‘s picture book biography of Coachman, with luminous illustrations by Floyd Cooper[9], is accessible enough to appeal to new readers, and detailed enough to jump-start students looking for an excellent candidate for a National History Day[10] project. As the first African-American woman to become an Olympic gold medalist, Coachman shook the hand of a king (George[11]VI[12]) and was celebrated with a parade 175 miles long.